In general, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for mounting a flat panel display in electronic equipment racks.
Electronic equipment racks are well known for use in telecommunications, test and measurement, in electronic data processing or control, and in many other fields. Electrical/electronic equipment racks are generally comprised of a plurality of printed circuit boards or electronic components or both, mounted in a shelf unit. The plurality of the electronic components are mounted in stacked fashion one upon another and arranged in a cabinet or fitted to a frame to constitute a rack having a particular function. In electronic equipment racks, the mounting and use of electrical and electronic equipment many times requires ready accessibility of the components and wiring. Further, electronic equipment racks require displays or monitors for visual display of data and to allow user interaction with the electronic components.
The use of monitors with electronic equipment racks significantly contributes to a difficulty in accessing the components and wiring used in an equipment rack. Full size monitors are heavy and waste valuable space that is needed for other test equipment. Flat panel displays are not as bulky as full size monitors but their use inhibits access to the equipment and monitoring. Previous monitor attachment solutions have been comprised of monitor arms equipment racks, but they continue to occupy valuable space and are bulky and difficult to attach. Previous mountings utilizing a swing arm are expensive, dangerous due to weight imbalances and take up floor space unnecessarily. Previous mountings utilizing vertical slide rail are expensive and cause rack bay modifications making field replacement difficult.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a flat panel display 100 attached to a standard equipment rack 110. Standard equipment rack 110 includes four equipment bays 150 and a plurality of screw holes 120 along the left front side 130. Standard equipment rack 110 also includes a plurality of matching screw holes, not shown, along the right front side 140. Left front side 130 and right front side 140 are in the same plane. Flat screen display 100 is attached to standard equipment rack 110 substantially parallel to and abutting the plane of the front sides 130, 140. Note in FIG. 1 that access to the upper bay 150 is mostly blocked by the flat panel display 100. Further, flat panel display 100 is solidly affixed to standard equipment rack 110, thus not allowing it to slide or tilt.
It is apparent that a need exists for a flat panel display rack mount that provides easy access to components and wiring used in equipment racks. It is also desirable for a mounting system requiring little effort to move the display sideways or to swing the display up for easy access to complex equipment and cables and which utilizes little floor space. Further still, it is desirable for a mounting system capable of easy retrofit to fully loaded racks already in use in the field, which is easy to install, which is strong, durable and safely out of the way, and which can handle nearly any flat panel display through a standard hanging plate. Yet further desirable aspects will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.
Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, a flat panel display exterior equipment rack mount is provided. The rack mount assembly is affixed to an equipment rack utilizing the existing screw holes and dress screws of the equipment rack. The rack mount assembly includes a pair of support brackets having slotted key holes in one end, a hanging rod constructed to fit the slotted key holes and a hanging bracket constructed to match the backside contours of a typical flat panel display.
The pair of support brackets are constructed and sized to fit the screw holes that exist on the left and right sides of an equipment rack. The support brackets are generally identical to each other and can be interchanged right to left. One support bracket is attached to each side of an equipment rack. The two support brackets are attached at opposing screws on the left and right side of the equipment rack. At the end of each support bracket is a slotted The slotted keyhole is sized so that the hanging rod fits through the larger part thereof.
The hanging rod is comprised of a cylindrical rod with grooves cut into each end thereof. The rod fits between the two support brackets attached to the equipment rack. The grooves of the hanging rod fit into the smaller portions of the slotted keyholes in each bracket.
The hanging bracket is utilized to suspend a flat panel display from the hanging rod locked into the slotted keyholes on each support bracket. The hanging bracket is comprised of one end that is contoured to match the back side of a flat panel display and a second end that hooks the hanging rod. The hanging bracket is firmly attached to the back side of a flat panel display and suspended from the hanging rod. The hanging bracket and the attached flat panel display slide to the left or right to allow access to the equipment and cables in the equipment rack. The hanging bracket and attached flat panel display also tilt to allow access. The dimensions of the hanging bracket are such that sliding the bracket and attached flat panel display to the left or right provides access to at least half of the equipment and cables in an equipment rack.